Table Among Enemies

It’s one of the most famous lines in one of the most famous songs: “You spread a table before me in the presence of my enemies” (Psalm 23).

Israel knows very well that this is what Yahweh the Shepherd does. This is how Israel was born as a people – by slaughtering a Passover lamb or goat, spreading blood, and feasting in the midst of their Egyptian enemies. 

Also at Sinai: Yahweh cuts covenant with Israel, and the ceremony ends with Israel’s representatives on the slopes of Sinai, dining in the presence of Yahweh: “And He did not stretch out His hand against them” (Exodus 24). He might have,  as He stretched out His hand against Egypt (Exodus 3:20; 9:15) and Egyptianized Hebrews, but He didn’t. He might have been Israel’s enemy, but wasn’t.